Knight Riders backing embattled Narine

Sunil Narine’s Indian Premier League franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, has thrown its full backing behind the embattled off-spinner, following his abrupt withdrawal from the West Indies Twenty20 World Cup squad.

Despite being banned from bowling in international cricket last November, The Trinidadian was named in a 15-man squad for the ICC tournament starting in India next month—pending a test on his action at the ICC-accredited Loughborough University in England this month.

Last Friday, however, Narine pulled out of the squad citing the need for more time to work on his action. Venky Mysore, the CEO of Knight Riders, said they were backing Narine to make a successful return to international cricket despite the latest setback. “We don’t have any such concerns because he is a champion,” Mysore said.